The Iron Wyrm Affair: Bannon and Clare, Book 1

Emma Bannon, forensic sorceress in the service of the Empire, has a mission: to protect Archibald Clare, a failed, unregistered mentath. His skills of deduction are legendary, and her own sorcery is not inconsiderable. It doesn't help much that they barely tolerate each other, or that Bannon's Shield, Mikal, might just be a traitor himself. Or that the conspiracy killing registered mentaths and sorcerers alike will just as likely kill them as seduce them into treachery toward their Queen.

Moira Quirk Did Well With an Uncohesive Story

I normally eat up this type of world; set in a Victorian England with lots of steampunk toys and plenty of supernaturals. This just didn't hold my att..Show More »ention. Very disappointing.

I liked Quirk's narration. Unfortunately, Saintcrow's attempt to describe Bannon and Clare's surroundings, the mystery they were trying to solve, and the undertones of the character's relationships were all a jumbled mess. It didn't come together like many other Saintcrow books I have read. My comprehension skills are just fine, but I found it hard to make sense of the plot at certain points. I think the story needed to be restructured before it should have been published.

In terms of the storyline itself, I was equally disappointed. For every positive aspect of this book, there is a negative one. The most obvious example I can think of is Clare and Bannon. Archibald Clare is observant, pleasant, and candid. Clare's antithesis is definitely Emma Bannon. She came off as self-centered, haughty, and callous. I will openly admit that it has a lot to do with the social/class system. Nevertheless, it was disturbing. The Prime/Shield relationship seems to be set up to breed narcissists and lapdogs. I liked the 'mentaths,' but sorcery world's caste-like power system offended my American sensibilities.

The Iron Wyrm Affair: Bannon and Clare, Book One

The game is afoot! London's geniuses are being picked off by a vicious killer, and Emma Bannon, a sorceress in the service of the Empire, must protect the next target, Archibald Clare. Unfortunately he's more interested in solving the mystery of the murders than staying alive . . . In a world where illogical magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head, Bannon and Clare will face dark sorcery, cannon fire, high treason and the vexing problem of reliably finding hansom cabs in the city.

The Red Plague Affair: A Bannon and Clare Case

The fantastic follow-up to The Iron Wyrm Affair, set in an alternate Victorian world where magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head. Emma Bannon, Sorceress Prime in service to Queen Victrix, has a mission: to find the doctor who has created a powerful new weapon. Her friend, the mentath Archibald Clare, is only too happy to help. Unfortunately, their quarry is a fanatic, and his poisonous discovery is just as dangerous to Britannia as to Her enemies.

Eagerly anticipating the next installment

As a huge Sherlock Holmes fan the similarities between the two characters are inescapable. Yet they are so different, as is the England in which they ..Show More »are set as to be almost unrecognizable. It is a unique take as well a delicious roll reversal of the famous old English detective and his erstwhile companion. While I can't say that this is a great series, I can say that it is a very good one. The interaction between the two protagonists is very well done.

It is with eager anticipation that I look forward to seeing these two characters develop.

The Red Plague Affair: Bannon and Clare, Book 2

The service of Britannia is not for the faint of heart - or conscience... After defeating a clockwork army bent upon regicide, the sorceress Emma Bannon and genius detective Archibald Clare have come to respect each other's skills, despite the fact that magic and logic are usually opposing forces. So when the Queen asks Emma to track down a missing doctor who holds the key to a deadly new weapon, Archibald's deductive talent may be just what she needs to find the man, before his destructive discovery sets the entire capital city ablaze...

Story telling style over plot.

Introspection seems to have taken over plot development; exposition, particularly to set character, in “The Iron Wyrm Affair”. The more I heard of the..Show More » internal thoughts, the harder I found it to believe in the characters … hard boiled sorceress and unparalleled logic machine … Bannon always self-doubting, and worrying about it; genius detective (supposed to be good at putting data into context, continually taken by surprise by the most obvious developments) Archibald Clare always talking to himself about how he shouldn’t be thinking about …

The first book was full of steampunk description, “fantastical mech monsters”, intriguing; this is all about confused, out of character - as they are represented from narration, stream of consciousness self-characterization.

All this affects Jane Collingwood’s effort. Stream of consciousness requires different ‘voice’; there is so much of it here it is difficult to endure.

The development of plot was more interesting in the first book. Here is just seems to drag itself into the narrative fighting against the flow.

The Ripper Affair: Bannon and Clare

The enthralling conclusion to the Bannon and Clare trilogy from New York Times best-selling author, Lilith Saintcrow. Sorcery. Treason. Madness. And, of course, murder most foul... A shattering accident places Archibald Clare, mentath in the service of Britannia, in the care of Emma Bannon, sorceress Prime. Clare needs a measure of calm to repair his faculties of Logic and Reason. Without them, he is not his best. At all.

Wait, that's the end?

I'm partial to steampunk, sorcery and Sherlock, so this is very much in my wheelhouse. I found it to be a mostly satisfactory end to the series (as a..Show More »pparently it is). It's a decent story, if a little heavily foreshadowed for my taste. Usually I find the highlight of Saintcrow's work to be that she takes a story in unexpected directions, and I had this one nailed around the 1/3 mark. But still fun, and I enjoy Emma, Archibald and Mikal enough to follow them around to see what they'll do. But. It's the Ripper. Making him the product of malign sorcery is a lot less frightening than his being just a man.

My main issue is with the narrator. I found her distractingly unappealing, and more than a little unsuited to voicing a majority of the characters. If she only voiced Emma, she brings a youthful quality to a young-seeming sorceress that would probably got her through. Unfortunately, elderly queens, prostitutes, witches, demons and any sort of man at all seem to be outside her range. But if you want to "read" this book while your eyes are busy with other things, she's better than the text-to-speech feature on a Kindle. Barely.

Overall, I'd say this feels much more like the book that you have to get through to get to the grand finale. And it's just a finale. Gah. This sounds much more negative than it should. It's a solid 4 stars.

Cormorant Run

It could have been aliens, it could have been a trans-dimensional rift, nobody knows for sure. What's known is that there was an Event, the Rifts opened up, and everyone caught inside died. Since the Event certain people have gone into the drift...and come back, bearing priceless technology that's almost magical in its advancement. When Ashe - the best Rifter of her generation - dies, the authorities offer her student, Svinga, a choice: go in and bring out the thing that killed her, or rot in jail.

Great post apocalyptic adventure

First- this book is **NOT** part of the Bannon & Clare series. Not even the same time period.

This book is different than anything else th..Show More »at I've read by Saintcrow. It's harsher and grittier. The story takes you on an adventure through a world changed by forces it does not understand. I enjoyed this book. It's a bit like a good alien suspense movie.

This story works really well as an audio - the strangeness of the world comes to life (for me) best when spoken. The narrator does an excellent job.